The Club and Plastic
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Incineration isn’t at all environmentally friendly, in fact it’s worse than landfill. However, organic waste lends itself to processing into fuel for renewable energy power stations. Venice is powered this way. Plastic waste is very much reusable unless it’s contaminated with low grade bags, food waste and other litter. It’s this waste which needs proper sorting if it’s to be effectively recycled:- it seems that most UK. households are a bit lazy in that respect. If you look at the Swiss model, they are very contientious about sorting and compressing because households are charged per (small) recycle bag, and it isn’t cheap.
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MM, you can only filter so much. Eventually there are emissions which contain deadly chemicals, be it in the gaseous form or in the ash that is the residue from the burning. What do you do with that ash.....bury it in a land fill site and create the chance of more pollution..
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There are a number of photos the the CC should consider changing!!
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I can't argue, but SWMBO used to work in waste management. By the time all your different bin wagons have been & collected various bins on various days at 5 or 6 mpg, plastic shipped around the world & shipped back again after having been made into new plastic 'things' it makes recycling a farce. And the emissions from incineration goes througn more filters than you could shake the proverbial hairy stick at, resulting in vitually fresh air ...... certainly cleaner than the emissions produced by shipping the stuff around the planet. I'm sure the experts know more than me & thee ☺
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Based on the industry’s practical experience of commercial waste incineration it ha been found that because incinerators which also generate electricity are expensive, it is financially attractive to work them hard. In real life, hydrocarbon based plastics release far more energy than simple waste, hence they remain in the fuel mix for commercial reasons. This destroys a portion of our irreplaceable planetary hydrocarbon pool, while simultaneously failing to filter out some of the very toxic emissions. Globally, there are debates as to what percentage of our waste should be disposed of in this way. In some studies it has been observed that levels of combustible waste have actually increased in order to supply incinerators. Of course, burying plastic isn’t a good solution either, unless it’s low grade and biodegradable, which is exactly the situation with the CCs magazine wrapping, as raised by the OP.
Since I posted, we’ve seen a number of responses from people who TELL me that burning waste can be used to generate electricity. Ahemmm I already knew that, which is why I referred to just that practice in Venice. There they more or less compost their waste (note non biodegradable plastics won’t compost) to prepare it for burning.
In truth, the complete elimination of undesirable/ poisonous byproducts through incineration is a myth, burying is far from perfect due to the methane which it produces and proper sorting followed by appropriate recycling is our only long term solution. Do have a look at the Swiss model, to see a practical implementation of that practice.
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Waste is not the problem. People world wide are the problem.
Packaging was introduced to combat deliberate food contamination (by people) and other safety concerns many years ago. Manufacturers would not have spent vast sums on packaging equipment if they were not forced to.
Most sea-born contamination is beyond the control of the UK. It must, by its very nature, mainly originate from other parts of the world, or deliberate dumping at sea (people again).
Methods of transport cause much pollution (people again).
Wars and fires cause a vast amount of pollution (people again).
If the UK disappeared tomorrow, the affect on reduction of world pollution would probably be too small to measure accurately. Proof? No but this was the private opinion of two environmental scientist friends.
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We are back from the lakes. Here in Wales we have charged for ALL plastic bags for years. We thought the same was later introduced in England. Surprise surprise you could not get such a simple thing right. We went to Booths supermarket and were given a plastic carry bag. On querying we were told organisations with less than 250employees were not included. Same at Gaynor sports where we picked up two cups and they were also,put in plastic bags.The answer is much nearer to home. After the successful Welsh trial you would have thought the English Govmt might have used that as a test piece!!
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The 250 staff ruling looks likely to alter with all shops charging in future if, after consultation, the change is adopted.
The current ruling is, as you might expect, rather involved.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/carrier-bag-charges-retailers-responsibilities
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@ Tinny ...... Packaging was introduced to combat deliberate food contamination (by people) and other safety concerns many years ago. Manufacturers would not have spent vast sums on packaging equipment if they were not forced to.
While some of the anti-contamination packaging is true ie tamper proof seals on jars, a lot of packaging is for the convenience of the supermarkets & manufactures. eg some Beanz are in multi packs of 4 & 6, they are in a plastic shrink wrap. Those multi packs are put onto a cardboard tray which are then wrapped again in plastic. Then the whole pallet is wrapped again in plastic wrap. None of that plastic is for the shopper but so that your can of Beanz is easily transported without damage.
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We are plagued with clothes collection companies acting for little known charities sticking plastic bin bags through the door. We probably get more than we buy clothes so somebody should look at this. On collection day they are lucky to get one in ten bags back suggesting a major polution problem there.
As for the clubs magazine wrappers I think the answer is down to cost. Having been in a factory that dispatches magazines though not the clubs it is done with a very efficient mechanical process. I cannot imagine a paper alternative being sent out so efficiently and so although I would prefer the paper, I suspect the cost is just too high, but even if it can be done at a competitive price it would need time to order and install the machinery.
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Good point. People again. 🙄
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Really enjoyed reading this thread, thanks to all contributors.
please watch this https://www.plasticoceans.org/watch-trailer/
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